Olivier nominees prepare to party

Today, 2 March, will see the performers, creatives and producers nominated for this year’s Laurence Olivier Awards come together to celebrate in style at a lunchtime event at the Haymarket hotel.

Among the stars expected to attend the event – which gives them the opportunity to relax and enjoy their success before the tension of the ceremony – are Keira Knightley, Ruth Wilson, Samuel West, Hannah Waddingham, Rachael Stirling, Jemma Redgrave, Patina Miller, Maureen Lipman, Brian May, James Earl Jones, Melanie Chisholm, Aneurin Barnard and Hayley Atwell.

The guest list also includes representatives from each of the five shows nominated for the Laurence Olivier Audience Award; Wicked, The Phantom Of The Opera, We Will Rock You, War Horse and Billy Elliot The Musical. This new award is the only Laurence Olivier Award voted for entirely by members of the theatregoing public, via Official London Theatre. If you haven’t voted yet, you still have a chance to influence the result and be entered into a draw to win four tickets to the winning show, as voting doesn’t close until 17 March.

Official London Theatre will be reporting from the exclusive event which kicks off at 12:45, bringing you live twitter updates of who is saying what, pictures of all the glamorous attendees and a highlights film. If you would like to get involved, follow @O_L_T on Twitter and tweet with the hashtag #oliviers. If there are any questions you would like asked, let us know and we will get our roving reporters to do their best.

The winners of the 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards will be announced at a star-studded ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, on 21 March. Official London Theatre will be on hand to bring you the very best coverage of the event, including, for the first time, exclusive live streaming of the awards ceremony, so you can see everything happen live on your computer. Coverage, which also includes news stories, photos and live tweets, starts from 17:30 as the stars begin to arrive. The ceremony and the live video streaming begins at 18:30.MA